This invention relates to processes of making dough products, and more particularly to an improved process for making dough crusts used for fresh or frozen pizzas or the like.
Processes for making crusts for pizza and other dough products include a cooking step, i.e., a step of baking or frying the dough. Examples of processes wherein such crusts are baked are found in Groth, U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,141 and Ruiz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,358. Examples of frying processes for such crusts are found in Totino et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,659 and in the many cookbooks which describe so-called "Neopolitan" pizzas.
Westover, U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,441 discloses a pizza dough cooking process wherein the dough can be either baked or fried. Izzi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,979 discloses a pizza crust making process employing the steps of first frying and then baking the dough.
Many of these patents also describe the step of "docking" a dough sheet prior to the cooking process. In this step, the dough sheet is provided with spaced docking holes which extend completely through the dough sheet from top to bottom. The docking holes are intended to assist in allowing gas and moisture to be released during the cooking process and to fasten the top and bottom dough sheet surfaces together to prevent delamination between the upper and lower surfaces of the cooked pizza crust.
The prior processes described above have not always produced satisfactory crusts. The dough products formed by such prior processes, e.g., pizza crusts, have not always been characterized by crisp upper and lower dough surfaces with uniform, bready interiors, which is desirable. On the contrary, the crusts resulting from some prior processes which include a frying step often are grease laden, and many have a non-uniform internal structure containing relatively large pockets. Also, some cooked dough products made by prior processes tend to delaminate, all of which makes them unsatisfactory for use as a pizza dough, most notably a frozen pizza dough.
The present invention provides a dough forming process which produces a cooked dough crust having crisp upper and lower surfaces and a uniform, bready internal structure. The internal structure contains relatively small, uniform pores and no noticeable exterior blisters, and the upper and lower crust surfaces are bonded together in a manner which effectively resists delamination. The process is fast and efficient, and produces highly satisfactory results.